Week three of the "Back-to-school Boogie". Activities are in full swing. The two little guys swim on Monday mornings, Chris on Wednesday afternoons. Soccer for Chris on Tuesday at 4:30, Matt's practice is Thursday at 5:30, games are Saturday mornings at varied times. I volunteer in classrooms Tuesday and Wednesday, school parents meetings are the first Wednesday of each month..... Like most people today, our calendar has become the focal point of our daily lives. Who has what today.
In an effort to make our calendar more family friendly, I've taken to printing them on the computer with nice big blocks for documenting activities, special dates and deadlines. For that added touch, I have each child take a turn decorating the boarder of the calendar (only a boarder, no large pictures as we also use reward calendars and there's only so much room on the fridge.)
"Why do we have more than one calendar on our refrigerator? What is our 'reward calendar'?" you ask. Simple bribery. I don't know what the parenting experts have to say these days. Advice seems to change and certainly varies based on the personal opinion of the "expert", but we use a calendar/sticker/long-term goal/reward system. For example, my kindergartner was having a difficult time sitting nicely on the school bus and exhibiting self control at swim lessons. After a discussion regarding bus and pool safety, rules and embarrassing his older brother we decided to highlight efforts made toward having good listening ears and proper bus/pool behavior by awarding a sticker on his calendar for each day he made good behavior decisions. We set a three month time frame, at the end of which, if he has a sticker on each day, he will be able to get the hamster he's been asking for the past few months. Our hope is that by the end of the three months, the improved behavior patters will have become habit. So far it seems to be working and the other kids have their own calendars now. Chris gets a sticker for doing his homework without the extended whining and negotiating period, and John gets his for remembering to make his bed in the morning.
What does all this have to do with crafts? Use your imagination. In addition to having the kids decorate their own monthly calendar, we also make our own stickers. Small drawings by our young artists work well and are our most frequent choice. Magazine pictures are also a great option, however my 4 year old sometimes gets frustrated trying to cut pictures small enough or with considerable detail. We've also used construction paper and glue to make pictures and collages. The recipe at the following site will get you making your own stickers in no time: http://www.homeschoolzone.com/pp/crafts/...
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